black front door with lock

Lock Stuck? Open Your Door Safely with These Three Tips

A jammed lock is more than just an annoyance. It can mean standing on the front doorstep, whether at home or at work, for a long time. It can mean missed appointments, missed phone calls and even missed workdays. In some cases, it can put you, your family or your coworkers in danger.

There are many causes for a stuck lock, and they might include extreme weather conditions, corrosion in the form of rust, or old and faulty keys that might break and get stuck in the lock.

The following are some common causes for stuck locks, and some remedies.

Is the key correct?

It may sound a bit silly, but locksmiths attending to “stuck” locks often find that someone’s been attempting to open a lock with the wrong key. Before you try and jam the key into the lock again, be sure you’re using the right key or, if possible, try someone else’s key.

Is the lock frozen?

In winter when temps go below freezing, keys may not work until the lock is warmed to a certain temperature. Try breathing on the key or aiming a warm stream from a hairdryer at it, and attempt to open the lock once more.

Does the lock need lubrication?

Use a silicone thread lubricant you can find at a hardware store to try and moisten the jammed lock, which should make it easier to insert the key. You may also wish to try putting a small dot of graphite in the keyhole if you still can’t get the key in. Important tip: once you’ve applied graphite to the key, try to open the jammed lock several times so the graphite has a chance to work properly.

Call a Professional Locksmith Service

If you still can’t get the lock open, or if the key breaks in the lock, you’ll need to call a professional locksmith. We serve Connecticut and Westchester County, New York residential, commercial and automotive customers for emergency lockout services and lock maintenance.

Here are just some of the towns in CT that we serve: Durham, Killingworth, Middletown, Portland – and more.

We are a family-owned and operated locksmith business. We care about every job and offer professional, reliable, fast, and affordable service to the community. For more information, visit our web site or call us at 203-752-1464.

house doors

How to Stop Doors in Your Home from Locking

Few things are more frustrating than being locked out with no idea how you’re going to get back into your home or car. We cover this topic in-depth in most of our blog posts as it’s the emergency most people are looking to solve. However, what about those pesky doors in your home.

You know the ones that lock on their own and you have to try to pick or wedge to get back open. Closets, bedroom doors or the bathroom door that sticks right when you really need to get to the other side of it.

For all those cases when you can’t get a door to stop locking or sticking on its own, it might be time to consider having a locksmith come out to assess the issue and replace or repair the door hardware and locks.

How to tell it’s time to change the locks

If you’ve been wondering whether or not changing the locks or upgrading the doors in your home is a wise idea, here are some sure signs it’s time to call a locksmith.

– The door doesn’t close properly into the frame.

Whether you notice that the door is bumping against the frame or that reopening it after being shut is extra difficult, there might be an issue with the molding, framing, ground or even the door coming unhinged itself. Since there could be a serious danger of a door coming out and falling over, it’s critical to have this problem checked and fixed ASAP.

– Lock no longer works when turned.

If you think that just because your doors are older, and it’s okay that the lock doesn’t work when it’s turned because you don’t lock doors in the house anyways, think again. If the lock is broken it could also mistakenly lock and create a troublesome situation when you need access. Don’t let these things go unnoticed until there’s an accident.

– Door Sticks Constantly

One sure sign that there is an issue with the lock or the door is that it sticks. Much like the door that gets caught up in the frame when trying to close it, this issue happens as wood swells or even as kids rough play and swing around the doors so much that the hinges fall out of alignment or screws to come loose.

How to Stop Doors in Your Home from Locking

You could look up how-to videos or other information in a pinch to try and remedy the problem of doors locking in your home, but really you’re putting yourself and your family at risk. Having full functioning doors and locks in the home is critical for the safety of all inside.  Do yourself a favor and leave this one to the skilled professionals.

Call All American Locksmiths

We’ve been providing prompt and trustworthy locksmith services in the Connecticut and Westchester County area for years. We service towns including Bedford, Chappaqua, and Fairview.  For all your emergency situations and non-urgent locksmith needs, our technicians are here to help!

Contact us today!

APARTMENT HALLWAY

Apartment Lock Out: Here’s what to Do

So you finally convinced your friends to move in with you so you can split the rent and live like adults. Congrats! Now you have an apartment all your own.

While you’re enjoying the freedom and new-found responsibilities, maybe there are a few things you’re just discovering – liking mixing white clothes and colors really does leave the laundry looking dingy like mom always said it would. Or, perhaps remembering to keep your apartment keys in eyesight at all times is a must…because if you leave them sitting on the coffee table and lock the door behind you to go for a run, you’ll come back to sitting in an empty hallway with no way of getting in.

Maybe you’ve locked yourself out more times than you’d care to admit.

This time you don’t want to call the landlord again or even ask your parents for help. You want to figure it out all by yourself this time.

Here’s what to do when you lock yourself out of your apartment and want to get back in:

  1. Keep Calm – It’s easy to get frustrated, annoyed or even disappointed with yourself if you’re locked out but the most important thing you can do in these situations is to stay calm so that you have a clear head to think of the best option to get back in.
  2. Call Your Roommate – It was a good idea to share the apartment with roommates chances are one of them can let you back in to retrieve your keys. That is if they aren’t also annoyed with constantly having to come bail you out. If you don’t feel like calling them for help either – there’s still hope.
  3. Call a Local Locksmith – Locksmiths are there for this specific purpose. To help you gain reentry into whatever you’ve been locked out of. It’s their job to fix, access and even recommend updates to locks.

Keep in mind that you are in an apartment so you don’t technically own the space and might even need your landlord’s permission anyway to get back in. Know your contract terms in advance so you know exactly what you can and can’t do in this situation.

All American Locksmiths serves the Connecticut and Westchester, NY area offering reliable and dependable locksmith services for everything from car lockouts to residential and even commercial services. Wherever you are and whatever you need, you can count on us to come to get your issue resolved promptly.

REQUEST SERVICE TODAY!